Why this exercise hasn't been deleted from the routines of people defies all logic and for the most part when i see it being done I can't help but presume that the person doing it has no idea what they are doing, even if they are big. There have been many many studies done on this and there are no added benefits and plenty of downsides, yet people continue to do it. I don't understand it.
src
I'm not going to try to tell anyone that they will definitely hurt themselves by doing this exercise but the fact that so many people have should be a good sign that it shouldn't be done. Most of the time when I witness this being done in the gym, the person is lifting very little weight and this is a good thing since they are putting their joints at an odd and unnatural position.
People do this exercise to work their rear deltoids and upper back and many studies have been done that will look at 4 common types of exercises done on a lat pulldown machine. They include: close, neutral grip, front pull down;close, supinated grip front pull down; wide grip front pull down; and wide grip behind the neck pull down.
All the studies that I have read conclude that the wide grip behind the neck pulldown shows no added benefit to what a majority of people attempt this exercise for. In fact, it was shown that the rear deltoids are actually worked MORE by all of the methods other than rear wide grip pulldowns.
src
There are articles out there that suggest that behind the neck pulldowns can be safe as long as you lean forward to enforce not bending the neck but most of these fail to address that you are still in a very unnatural position and they tend to not mention the fact that there isn't any real added benefit to doing this exercise in the first place.
A majority of the injuries that occur doing this exercise are not necessarily what you think. It isn't some bizarre over-extension of a joint or something but actually it is simple impact of the bar on the spine. You know that thing in your back that houses all of those really important nerves that make you capable of walking and having sensation in your legs? Well people are simply accidentally slamming the bar into that part of their body and in the worst cases end up creating life-long problems for themselves all because they were doing something that for the most part is completely unnecessary and shows no real benefit.
So for me, the answer is clear: Do lat pulldowns from the front: I'm sure there are some meatheads out there that will swear the "behind the neck" pull is essential for some tiny fibrous muscle in the middle of your back or something but is the risk really worth the rewards?
From athlete, to overweight out of shape fatty, and back
Bashing the back of your neck has to be a bad thing. I have not used such machines in a while, but I may have used that exercise without realising the possible consequences.
Well the chances are small of you repeatedly bashing yourself in the spine. I think most people would probably only do that once. The real danger here is that it is an awkward position and puts undue strain on muscles that were not meant to ever be used in that capacity. Think about it... is there really any normal situation in which this motion would be necessary?
All it may take is for people to see someone else doing that exercise to think it's a good idea. This is why you need qualified instructors in gyms. Not that I hang around in gyms.
I did not know this. I do them behind the neck because I saw other people doing it. It is good to know this because a lot of what I do in the gym comes from just watching others.
Therein lies the problem. I think a lot of gyms are starting to have some sort of graphic on the machine to let people know how to use the machine and people should start reading those.